1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to exercise bicycles and in particular to pedal load changing devices for use on stationary exercise bicycles, generally called spin bikes that are used in health clubs, cycle clubs, home environments and the like.
2. Description of Prior Art
Presently there are millions of stationary exercise bikes or spin bikes used in health clubs and exercise clubs around the US and abroad. These bikes were initially developed for use by cyclists who wished to maintain a training schedule even during times when outside weather conditions and/or access to suitable outdoors cycling amenities was not available. For instance, a cyclist who is in training for a race is not always able to ride outdoors, especially at night and so spin bikes were developed to allow training to take place, during these times. These stationary spin bikes are now used both by cyclists and non-cyclists alike, for training and exercise purposes.
These bikes are however, of very basic design and limit the rider in his range of exercise options. The spin bikes supply minimal component adjustments to meet the physical needs of the rider. The spin bikes also use simple adjustment knobs connected to a friction load-generating device mounted on the front wheel, to raise and lower the loads on the pedals. These knobs are turned to change the pedal load and when a number of riders use the bike, each rider has difficulty resetting the pedal load to their own requirements, as there are generally no setting marks on the knob or on the adjacent bike surfaces. Typically many turns of the knob are needed to make a change to the pedal loads, which makes any adjustment difficult during the exercise period.
For this reason, instructors at the clubs with spin bikes have a difficult time coordinating a class of club members on spin bikes as the knobs on these bikes do not allow quick or easy changes of pedal load settings. Because of these limitations in their design, spin bikes do not allow the rider or the instructor to mimic the riding conditions of an outdoors bike or track bike.
As an example, the most popular brand of spin bike has not changed the design of its essential pedal load changing components for many years. Other competitive spin bikes have similar designs and all lack good pedal load changing features which, if present, could greatly improve the spin bike""s performance and so meet the needs of a wider variety of users and health club instructors.
In the current art of spin-bikes, pedal loads are varied by turning a control knob, which changes the force on a friction pad or pads on top of, or on the sides of the front wheel, which creates changes in the pedal loads.
In the most common design of spin bike pedal load changing feature, the knob is turned and rotates a threaded rod inside a stationary threaded nut, causing the rod to move up or down. The rod is attached by a cable, or through a set of rotating arms, to two brake pads on either side of the rim of the flywheel. The length of the rod and the flex in the cable attaching it to the attendant pads, combined with the fine thread pitch on the threaded nut, requires the rider to turn the knob a large number of turns, to produce the desired change to the load on the bike pedals. This is an annoyance and does not give the rider the ability to quickly change his pedal loads during a workout.
In some of the more recent models of spin bikes the pedal load changing feature consists of a friction pad mounted on the top of the front wheel rim. Turning the control knob directly raises or lowers a threaded rod, which changes the force on the friction pad. The force is generated by turning the knob inside a square threaded nut, mounted on the spin bike frame. The threaded nut is loosely constrained from turning but can slide up or down within a limited envelope, defined by a square tube mounted on the frame of the spin bike. This sliding feature is used to integrate the emergency brake with the pedal load changing means as follows: When the rider pushes down on the top of the control knob, the entire pedal load changing means slides down and increases the force on the top of the friction pad and so the bike wheel comes to a quick stop.
Also in spin bike training there is a need by many cyclists to do one legged training exercises. This is done to improve their pedal strokes, since cycling on one leg quickly shows up the parts of the pedal stroke that are deficient as it is not masked by the other leg""s contribution. A problem arises in finding a suitable and safe place to park the free leg. If held out to the side the rider runs the risk of striking it against the free rotating pedal, and if he elects to park it on part of the frame it pulls his body out of the correct cycling position. There is nothing available in the art, which addresses this problem.
There are a number of spin bike models currently being sold and used but in all cases they are limited in design and operation as described above. Basically the construction and essential features of the pedal load changing features and one legged cycling requirements on spin bikes currently in use, do not meet the physical or training needs of the riders.
There is no known prior art in the field of spin bike design that addresses the problems discussed above. The present invention overcomes these problems and in so doing, also adds new features, which improve the capabilities of a spin bike.
Thus addition of the present invention to a stationary exercise spin bike creates a bike with a good pedal load-changing feature and leg parking capability, which immediately enhances indoor spin bike exercise and training possibilities.
The present invention is an advanced design of pedal load changing means and foot parking means not presently available on spin bikes currently in use. These features produce a spin bike that can more closely mimic the operational features of a road bike and also allow for advanced cycling training, using one leg.
The design of the friction device incorporated on the present invention, used to load up the pedals, can be activated about 5 times faster than on standard spin bikes, thus allowing the rider to more rapidly change pedal loads.
The invention includes an up to 10-step, simple pedal load changing means which is based on the following: There is a scale of difficulty known as the Borg Scale, well recognized by the health and fitness training business, which is a scale of perceived exertion for riding a bicycle. The top of the scale is 10 and this represents a load that is almost imporsible for the rider to turn the pedals against. The bottom of the scale is 1, which represents a very light pedal load. The pedal load changing means of the present invention mimics the Borg Scale used in general fitness evaluation and adds a very useful exercise feature to a spin bike.
To establish the Borg Scale, using the pedal load changing means on the spin bike incorporating the present invention, the rider gets on the spin bike and starts pedaling. He gradually turns a pressure-adjusting knob, which forces a friction pad downward onto the front wheel rim. This increases the load on the pedals, until he is at the highest load setting that he can handle. This is his number #10 setting. By then simply moving a load change lever down from this #10 setting, the rider can back off from his highest pedal load by increments, all the way down to a very light pedal load, which represents his #1 setting. Note that the scale has now been set up for this individual and his particular abilities, which could of course, be very different for another individual with higher or lower strength and cycling power.
The pedal load change lever has a spring-loaded ball bearing on each side, which fit into a series of holes in the two side plates adjacent to the lever. The rider can then mimic the effect of gear changes on a road bike by pushing the load change lever up or down and feel it slide into the next hole with a sudden resistance, accompanied by an audible xe2x80x98clickxe2x80x99. Thus these clicks can be used to control pedal load settings while the rider is exercising, without distraction.
This pedal load changing system is an essential feature of the present invention, as it allows the individual to set a spin bike""s pedal load range to match his or her capabilities. Thus a novice or older person with little body strength, or persons with lighter or heavier body weights, can establish their individual maximum setting for pedal loads as described above. They can then establish up to 10 increments of lower loads by use of the pedal load change lever, and thus stay well within their capabilities. Thus by simply setting the load to the different settings using the pedal load change lever, the person can vary the loads on the pedal and so simulate the variable conditions which are desirable to get a full aerobic workout, yet stay within their own body strength and stamina range.
Another advantage of this pedal load setting invention is that a group of spin bike riders can make adjustments to their individual spin bike pedal loads, to match their individual abilities. Then the instructor can now lead the class through a series of pedal load settings that give the whole class a full workout. No longer does the individual have to fiddle with the turn knob to try and change pedal loads from high to low, while he is pedaling. He can merely reach down and push or pull the load change lever through the desired number of clicks called out by the instructor, which changes pedal resistance and therefore level of workload.
In an exercise class using current state-of-the-art spin bikes, the instructor is severely limited when he tries to get each individual to change the pedal loads in any consistent manner, due to the large number of knob turns required and the absence of an indicator to show knob position. With spin bikes incorporating the present invention, the instructor can now tell the class to xe2x80x9cgo up 3 clicksxe2x80x9dor xe2x80x9cgo down 6 clicksxe2x80x9d and they can all do this very easily and quickly, without much effort or distraction, by activating the pedal load change lever.
Riders with widely different levels of ability can now exercise together and each can get a workout adjusted and tailored to their individual capabilities. This can be done on a group of spin bikes each incorporating the present invention. The pedal load settings can be automatically re-adjusted at the beginning of the workout as the rider""s level of ability changes. Or the pedal load change can be made even in the middle of the workout by turning the pedal load change knob up or down which will automatically reset the entire 10-step range, controlled by the lever.
The present invention also incorporates an emergency brake integral with the pedal load change feature, that is activated by a push down thrust of the rider""s arm that is a much easier motion for the rider to make, in an emergency situation, when his body is also moving forward after he has lost contact with the pedals. Thus the embodiment described above includes the pedal load changing means and an emergency brake means, both contained in the same assembly and illustrated in FIG. 2a. 
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the load change lever can also be used as an emergency brake as follows: When the settings for the load change lever have been established as described above by the rider, the top setting of the lever is the one where the rider can barely turn the pedals and represents a high pedal load and therefore a high friction load on the front wheel. This top setting generates enough load on the front wheel, that in the case of an emergency, when the rider wants to stop the spin bike""s rotation, the rider can push the lever forward, which clicks it into higher and higher load settings until the bike""s wheel quickly comes to a stop. Thus the pedal load change device can serve both functions, the first to control pedal loads and the second to act as an emergency brake. This preferred embodiment greatly simplifies the design of the embodiment described earlier and allows the same device to function as both pedal load changer and emergency brake as illustrated in FIG. 2e. 
The spin bike incorporating the present invention also includes a foot rest mounted on the frame of the bike. This foot rest is not available on commercially available spin bikes and so presently when a rider is doing one-leg training he has to hold the other leg out to the side or rear of the bike in an unsupported manner. If he is not careful, he runs the risk of striking his leg against the free rotating pedal of the bike, causing injury. This one-leg pedaling is also used by riders, as part of a training method or to isolate each leg in turn to measure leg strength or when riding on one leg to smooth out the riders pedal stroke.
The foot rest is best located towards the rear of the bike frame, since this is the best position to park a free leg during isolated leg cycling as it does not disrupt the rider""s normal pedal stroke or throw the riders body out of balance. A foot rest positioned towards the front of the bike structure upsets the body""s position and alignment when used to park a free leg, which is not conducive to good cycling training routines.
As can be seen from the above description, the spin bike incorporating the present invention includes a number of useful features, which together increase the performance, and versatility of spin bikes for use in indoor exercise and training.